Cavern Secrets
by MolinaSkies
Summary: After barely surviving a deep fall underground during a heavy battle with Eggman, Sonic must depend a little on Amy in order to avoid succumbing to his Claustrophobia. Sonic learns the value of vulnerability whilst letting himself love a little more than usual. In this Sonamy fluff, Sonic endeavors deeper into his heart than expected.


"Does it feel like this hole is shrinking to you?"

"No, Sonic."

"Wh-What about breathing? Can you breathe okay? Are you finding it stuffy in here or is it just me?"

"It's just you, Sonic."

"Oh, come on, Amy, don't you fee-"

"For goodness sake, hedgehog, shut up!"

Her voice echoed off the walls of the cavern we were stuck in... the very small, cold cavern... oh man.

"Sorry, I'm just stressed about… the battle, is all. I mean, aren't you worried about Knuckles and Tails? Eggman isn't playing nice up there! The guys were surrounded when we fell!"

Though it's dark, I can feel Amy's hot and heavy breath on my leg — a sigh suggesting agitation. "That's not what you're worried about and we both know it."

Taken aback, I feel a rare scowl forming on my face as my temper rises. However, I'm not sure if I'm angry with her for testing me or angry with her for reading me like a book. My voice is more defensive than I intend when I inquire, "Are you doubting my loyalty to this team?"

"Ugh... That's not what I mean-"

"Then what do you mean, Amy?"

I watch Amy's fingers vigorously rub her eyes before she musters a response. "I mean that I know you're feeling claustrophobic. You're all tense and worried about being stuck down here forever! You're worried that the walls will cave in or that you'll suffocate or-"

"FOR THE LOVE OF CHAOS, _**STOP TALKING**_!"

My panicked voice ricochets off the walls for what feels like forever. However, even after my voice finally fades away into nothingness, the cavern never falls silent as explosions and sounds of clashing metal ring from above. That, and Amy's shaken breath rings consistently, bringing me to the reality of what I've done.

"I-I'm sorry... It's just that... No one has ever expressed this feeling so accurately. Hearing someone nail it just makes it feel more probable, you know?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm not surprised. You're Sonic the Hedgehog: free spirit! I can definitely see that this situation isn't your cup of tea." Normally, it's me who keeps a level head in these types of situations while Amy freaks out; it's strange to have the roles reverse, though for Ames to be so calm and collected is a big relief. To think that she put herself in this situation on purpose.

"Why did you jump down here after me?" I inquire curiously, the gravity of the situation sinking in. My mind floats back to what feels like hours before… Though, realistically speaking, this whole mess probably happened about twenty minutes ago.

Go figures that the fastest thing alive has a horrible context of time.

Anyway, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and I are responding to Eggman's full frontal attack on Mystic Ruins, and when I say frontal, I mean crazy full force. Buzzbombers, motobugs, eggpawns - every badnic one can think of is situated within Eggman's defense. Moreover, Eggman's plethora of larger robots are wreaking havoc on the surrounding land, dealing carnage left and right. The reason there's a cavern for one to fall into in the first place is because a drill bot forged through the ground and into a pre-existing tunnel below us.

The gang and I manage to fight off most of his wave by splitting into pairs: Tails and Knuckles end up together whilst Amy and I are. In the heat of the moment, I glance behind me to see that Tails and Knuckles are pinned against a wall. However, in my worry and distraction, a wave of motobugs ram rugby into me, and I go drifting out of control across the ground and towards the cavern! I try to stop myself, but friction is not by my side.

I can barely grasp the edge of the entrance hole before I go flying in. I scan the scene – the chaos of battle in front of me, the dark abyss of what could be a bottomless pit below me – looking for a way to save myself. However, when nothing came to mind, I'm quick to make eye contact with someone – anyone – who can see my predicament.

" _ **AMY!**_ " I manage to choke out before the thinning ground crumbles under one of my arms, causing me to genuinely shout in panic. She turns around quick, her face falling as I desperately reach to grab more land, only for it to crumble apart and fall the hundreds of feet below me. Beyond her, I can barely manage to see Knuckles and Tails snap to attention with worried looks on their faces before the earth beneath me crumbles completely.

I hear three petrified voices call out my name as I fall fast and deep into the cavern. My surroundings are growing darker and darker by the second as I desperately try to think of a way to cushion my impact, but to no avail. In my darting glances, I look up to see Amy diving in after me. To my surprise, she quickly catches up to me, grabbing my waist before summoning her hammer. With as much strength I've ever seen her muster, and as loud of a grunt I've ever heard, Amy slams her hammer deep into the cavern wall, the friction instantly slowing our decent. However, we still hit the cavern floor – something I was beginning to believe didn't exist – with a heavy thump.

I catch my breath whilst dusting my fur off as I look towards Amy in disbelief. She briefly struggles to dislodge her hammer from the wall, placing her foot against the wall for leverage, and spins it in her hands lightly, inspecting for damage. I suppose Amy deems her hammer to be in good shape because she sends it away and looks at me with wide, scared eyes.

"Please tell me you're okay."

I close the mouth I don't realize I've left hanging open and give her a response. "Oh, um… Yeah, I'm okay... Thanks, honestly. I think I'd be dead right now if it wasn't for you."

"Well, now that you're alive, get comfortable. I don't think we're getting out of here for a while…"

.

"So, why, Ames?"

The little lady in question giggles before answering, "Well, it's just like you said. You could be dead right now. Or at least horribly injured... Honestly, I don't know what came over me – I just acted without thinking – but I'm glad I did!"

"But you left Knuckles and Tails up above by themselves."

"Yeah, I realize that now, but they can handle themselves; in this instance, clearly for more than one reason, you can't handle yourself."

"Ouch, Ames."

"Get over your ego, would you?" Her laugh is contagious. "Besides, leaving them to save you was a risk I had to take. You're valuable to our team; you mean so much to the world... You mean so much to me."

Caught by surprise, I can't hold back the exasperated smile on my face. "Amy..."

I laugh a little breathlessly before leaning back against the wall behind me, the cold chill down my spine reminding me once again of where we are. I feel mental snakes slither up my arms, and they stiffen from the feeling.

"How are you so nonchalant about this?"

"I'm nonchalant because I'm thinking logically. Knuckles and Tails will defeat what's left of Eggman's metal lackies no problem. Then, they'll come down and carry us out. Simple! It's not like we're gonna die down here." Amy shrugs, and my eyes grow wide as my mouth hangs agape once again briefly before responding.

"Okay wait, back up! How can you think when you have barely any room to stretch your legs?!" I flail my limbs around myself in an attempt to prove my point, only to realize that I can, in fact, move around quite freely.

"Oh..."

Amy laughs heartily while I itch my nose, looking anywhere besides her. "W-Well, I'm still having trouble clearing my head, alright?"

"Here, let me try something to calm you down." Amy forces out between giggles before tugging at my arm, pulling me quickly towards her. I fall onto her sitting figure with a yelp, my face landing in what I believe is her stomach. "Put your head in my lap."

"Uh, I'm pretty much there, Ames." My words are muffled by the fabric of her dress, but the irritation they carry forges through.

"Okay, well, lie on your back and push your quills up towards me."

This encourages me to do the opposite; I sit up to look at Amy's dimly lit face expecting to see some giddy smile or devious expression, only for my skeptical emerald eyes to meet serious jade ones. Her expression holds for seconds before she looks away in a pout, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm trying to help you, Sonic, but fine. If you want to be difficult, I'll just leave you alone in this dark hole so you can rot into–"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Just don't leave me alone, please." I'm quick to reposition my head on her lap like she requests, mentally kicking myself in the process. This is why I don't showcase my emotions — they make me vulnerable and I say stupid stuff... She can't leave even if she wants to.

Though, it is nice to know that she won't leave even if she wants to.

I settle into her lap and heave a heavy sigh to relax, but I tense up again when she starts rubbing her fingers through my quills. I'm about to object, but she quickly shushes me, telling me that, "You'll feel better if you just let your mind wander... Trust that you're safe with me and that you'll get out of here soon."

I'm still not too comfortable with relaxing... something could crumble on us or the bottom of the cavern could cave in or– Oh man… She's hitting all the good spots.

Amy giggles as my weight melt in front of her before bursting into laughter as I begin to purr.

"It better go without saying that this stays between us, Amy."

"Awh, but I wanted to tell everyone how comfortable you are with me playing with your quills!" The teasing within her voice is evident.

"Shut up."

Conversation hushes between us as we both listen above for signs of action. When all I can hear is more explosions, I can't stop my grimace. "I hope they're okay up there... I feel bad that we're not up there helping them."

"Oh, I'm sure they're fine!" Amy calls out, speaking as if their success is the most obvious thing in the world. She's always had a strong sense of faith; that's something I've always admired about her.

"Those two have grown so much recently, both physically and emotionally... Tails especially! Anyone who knew him before wouldn't recognize him now, and we have you to thank for that, I guess."

A prideful smile creeps on to my face as I reflect of my memories about my best friend. "Oh, whatever. I knew Tails was growing up since Dark Gaia; he was so independent with the Tornado-1 and that handy map of his. And don't even get me started on our adventure with Egghead's amusement park-turned-death trap. I would have been so lost without his communicator."

I sigh as my smile grows softer and larger. "I love that kid to pieces... I'm real proud of him."

Amy's hand movements along my quills slow down briefly before picking up pace again as I hear her sigh in content.

"Yeah, me too... But Knuckles is still _**SUCH**_ an idiot."

My stomach has never hurt so much. "A-Amy! I didn't even know you were capable of such harsh words! He's not THAT bad!" My laboured voice echoes off the cavern walls.

"I'm not always nice, blue boy." I look up to see her smug face looking down at me before lightly flicking my nose. "But you're right – Knuckles isn't that bad. He has a heart of gold if you get to know him... and look past his brain of coal."

"I can't deny that. He acts all arrogant and tough, but the second someone needs help, he's there. I consider him a rival, but who can't respect that?"

"Right..." Amy's hand movements slow to a stop this time, bring my attention to her face, which holds a curious expression. However, a devious grin soon replaces her inquiry. Oh, boy.

"Well, while we're on the topic of relationships..." Her quill grooming continues as she brings her face closer to mine, her grin deepening as her bangs tickle my nose. "What do you think of me?"

This girl's clever. I should have seen this coming, and yet I'm not upset... But I refuse to relinquish the advantage of this situation. I bring my face even closer to hers, a sly expression growing upon it, as I prepare to drop my bomb of an answer.

"You're tolerable, I guess."

Her eyes and mouth open wide before she lightly smacks my head off her lap and onto the ground with a loud scoff.

"'Tolerable'!? Tails and Knuckles get these monologues about how much you appreciate them, and I get 'tolerable'?"

"Yep! You're tolerable. Nothing more, nothing less." I'd go on with more nonsense if I could stop laughing to breath. She's furious, now!

"No, no, no, no, no! It doesn't even end there! I mean– like, I'm _head over_ _heals_ for you, Sonic, and all I get from you is 'tolerable'!?" I manage to calm myself down enough to look her in the face only to laugh even harder at the pout she's giving me. Man, she's gullible.

She's cute, too, though.

I sit myself up on all fours, crouching before her so I can look into her eyes. My childish grin calms into a sincere smile. "No, that's not all you get... I don't always show it, but your dedication to everything you do means the world to me. You, in general, kinda… You know."

In seconds, Amy's scowl dissipates into something softer as her eyes widen in wonder. I can tell she wants me to continue, but–

" _THAT'S_ all you get." I earn myself another scoff, but this time she's still smiling and ready to tease.

"I'll take what I can get... Besides, I know you're just shy…" Her small words are quiet against the palms of her hands as her heads in, blooking away from me.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Pinky... Hey, look at me." I lightly grab hold of her chin and turn her head towards me. "I meant what I said, you know..."

Her eyes soften as she leans her head into my hand before meeting my gaze. "Yeah, I know you did."

We stare at one another briefly before something comes to mind.

"Again, this stays between us."

"Don't worry. This'll be our little cavern secret."

"Good." I can't help but smirk as I lower my tail to sit on the ground. I grab her hand in my own and begin to play with her fingers. "Now, what's your favourite colour?"

Amy giggles a lot, I've noticed. "That's random, but it's green. Yours?"

"Red. Same colour as tomatoes, the main ingredient in chili."

"You're lame."

"Hey! What's lame about that!?" I feign offended ignorance by slapping a hand against my chest and opening my mouth wide. Her response is worth my Socratic irony.

"Get a better favourite food! Chilli dogs are so sloppy!"

"But how can I change it when your recipe is so irresistible?" I wink and her while she blushes. "And don't you like having me over all the time?"

"I do... Favourite place on the planet?"

"I think Apotos. The buildings are cool. Favourite holiday?"

"Valentine's day, naturally. Even though you never wanna hang out!" Amy's smiling, but her eyes tell a different story.

"Did I not just cite our chilli dog adventures?" I cock an eyebrow in her direction, smirking to keep the mood light, but my efforts aren't that effective.

"Oh, you know what I mean..." She mutters, drawing circles into my palm.

"I'm sorry, Ames, but in my defence, you always get me at the worst times! It's not like I necessarily try to avoid you, anymore. I'm always fighting Egghead and other bad dudes or dying for a nap or something."

"What about all the times you stood me up?"

I heavily sigh before taking a firm hold of the hand I've been playing with, making sure Amy is looking at me before I respond. "Those times are never on purpose – I never want to hurt you. Can you trust me on that?"

Amy looks down at our hands before looking away entirely. "Why do you have to be so dreamy..."

"Why do you have to be so cute?"

"Shut up! You don't mean that!"

Things would be a whole lot easier if that were true.

"Sure, I don't… Really, though, can you trust me?"

"That's a dumb question, you know."

I sheepishly rub the back of my neck with my available hand, rolling my eyes in the process.

"Yeah, I know."

I take a moment to recollect my pride, and in that moment, I realize that the battle commotion has diminished. "It's certainly quiet up there... do you think it's over?"

Amy opens her mouth to respond, only to be cut off by the distant echo of a voice from above. "SONIC!? AMY!? Are you guys down there!?" The pitch of the voice tells me that it belongs to Tails.

I can't be happier to know that I'll see daylight again, but I also feel a bit of dread… I don't really want this to end.

"Yeah, buddy How long have we been down here?"

Tails laughs sheepishly, and I can envision his classic scratch behind his ear. "Honestly, maybe an hour and a half or something? The damage up here is bad… Everything kinda looks the same. It took us a while after the battle's conclusion to find you guys!

"Are you two okay? I know you're not a fan of tight spaces, Sonic."

"We're okay, but trust me, I wasn't at first! However, Amy calmed me down quickly." I make eye contact with Amy before lightly squeezing her hand. My lips mouth the words "thank you" while I muster the most genuine look in my eyes as I can. Amy, rather surprised, squeezes back and shines the sweetest smile I have ever seen.

"Always."

Knuckles' booming voice brings us both back to reality as he interjects into the conversation for the first time with what I can only hope is a joke. "Well, you two got a nice break, but how are you guys getting outta there?"

"Haha, very funny! I was hoping we could depend on the fox-o-copter and strong arms!" This makes us all laugh.

"I don't know, Sonic! You guys are a little heavy–"

"HEY! WATCH IT, KNUCKLEHEAD!" How fitting for Amy's first interjection into the conversation to be a threat?

"YOU'RE THE HEAVY–" And, of course, her second interjection is an insult! However, I dive closer to her and cover her mouth before she can finish her thought. "Thanks, Ames, I think he gets it!"

More quietly, I add, "As nice as this adventure was, I don't really need to be down here more than required, so please don't piss off the rescue committee."

Amy giggles into my hand before removing it and whispering, "And you thought you were gonna die down here!"

My eyes widen as my face grows serious. I'm about to scold her before I faintly hear Tails announce his and Knuckles' decent for us. Instead, I heavily sigh and take a softer approach.

"Amy, _PLEASE–"_

Amy places a single finger over my mouth, leaning her forehead onto my own. I'm too stunned to move, and my eyes lock into hers. All I can hear now is her voice.

"Shhh... You can trust me, Sonic. With this and with anything."

I flash her a gentle smile before finding the strength to back away instead of leaning forward. Instead, I extend my pinky finger towards her.

"Cavern secrets?"

She graciously accepts my gesture and returns my smile.

"Yeah... Cavern secrets."


End file.
